Have you ever had herpes outbreaks that just seem to pop up one after another and never go away? Generally speaking, herpes outbreaks occur 4 times a year and as time goes on, our immune system builds up a resistance and that number may go down. However, there are many things that can trigger an outbreak, and if you have had a lot of reoccurrences with your herpes symptoms, chances are you just want them to stop. While there is no permanent cure for herpes, there are certain things you can do to treat or prevent an outbreak in the future. Chronic outbreaks may be a sign of a more serious issue at hand, so be sure to talk to your doctor if your herpes symptoms don’t go away easily after treatment. Listed below are some tips to keep the outbreaks to a minimum without using antiviral medication.

To treat herpes outbreaks you need to understand what starts them. If you get sick, you may be subject to an outbreak because your immune system is less tolerant. Thus it is important to stay as healthy as you can. Changes in your diet may also impact the outbreaks you get, so make sure to mention your diet to your doctor to determine if there is something you need to add to or subtract from it. Nutrition will be the key to a healthy lifestyle overall, so it won’t hurt for you to spend some time getting on a better food regimen. Eating well is also a major factor to helping you manage outbreaks. Eating foods that are rich in Lysine, such as fruits and vegetables, eggs, chicken are greatly beneficial. Stay away from foods that are high in Arginine like chocolate, nuts and even caffeine, which are all known to trigger outbreaks. Drinking has also been known to cause outbreaks, so it’s advised that you lower, if not completely cut out, your alcohol intake.

One of the biggest factors that I’ve personally found to trigger an outbreak is stress. If you have been having a lot of stress in your life lately, the sudden mood changes and headaches could be causing some of your outbreaks. Feeling run down and fatigued will increase your chances of getting a herpes outbreak, and so will prolonged periods of anxiety or stress. Eliminating stress as much as possible will greatly affect triggering an outbreak. When it seems that life’s troubles are too much, take a few moments each day, meditate or pray and try to calm you mind. It will ultimately greatly benefit, not only your overall health, your outbreaks from recurring.

You also need to make sure that you avoid direct sunlight on areas that often get outbreaks because the UV rays could trigger the blistering. For women, pregnancy and periods also affect a woman’s chances of getting a herpes breakout because of the imbalanced hormones in the body. The same might be said for a woman who has a thyroid disorder or who is already suffering from menopause.

The longer you live with herpes, the more you’ll get to know your body and how herpes reacts to it. Using some of these tips above will greatly help you and over time, you’ll get to know what works for you and what doesn’t. It’s important that you control this virus and not let the virus control you!